Tell the Night to Hold Me
by Kain Vixenheim
Summary: UNDERFELL - Frisk wasn't a good kid. When they first fell into the Underground they killed everyone, only to be stopped at the end by a familiar face. Now they're trying again, having made a deal with their would-be killer they travel through the Underground once again. Undertale belongs to Toby Fox
1. Chapter 1

_**So the Undertale fandom has swallowed me whole...**_

 _ **Oh yeah, I'm looking for anyone who's willing to Beta this for me, let me know by PM. (this one's unbetaed)  
**_

 _ **Also - I was expecting this chapter to be about 1500 words long, maybe 2000 if I got really into it ... it's really not.**_  
 _ **I have no idea if the other chapters will be the same length. They'll probably vary.**_

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1 – CASTLE IN THE SAND**

It was strange, the Golden light that filled this particular hallway of the Underground. It almost appeared to be sunlight, but the very nature of the cavern the palace was located within made it exceeding unlikely that it was the case. Or if it was, then the King of the Monsters must be exceeding selfish to keep the only glimpses of sunlight in the Underground just for his eyes. Then again, the other Monsters had hardly been anything other than cruel and selfish, that was why Frisk has killed them. There had been no reason to expect the King would be any different.

Sunlight or no, The golden light was just so warm. It burnt away the hard chill that had clung to Frisk since they had killed their first Monster all the way back in the Ruins, that had consumed them after Flowey had abandoned them for killing Toriel.

It made them stop and think. To look back on everything they had done. They wanted to regret it. They had never once considered hurting another living being, let alone killing them, before they had fallen into Mount Ebbot. Yet they felt no remorse whatsoever. Every Monster they had killed had attacked them first, they had been acting in self defence. Besides, it was hard to truly grasp that they had killed anyone when the Monsters bodies would turn to dust and blow away on the wind before they even stopped moving.

The shimmer of a SAVE point glowed in the corner of the room as Frisk moved towards it on autopilot as they thought. As they finished their quiet contemplation of the past they crouched down before the glowing star. Running their fingers through the light they felt their DETERMINATION rise up, fuelled by their memories and latch onto this spot in time. They had SAVED.

Standing, Frisk turned to look down the hall. The gentle sunlight bathed the hall and made it seem almost idyllic. The King could not be that much further off.

Each step echoed against the tiled floor. Frisk smiled gently to themselves, closing their eyes briefly as the warm light washed over them.

"heh, heya kiddo."

Frisk's eyes snapped open, staring at the sight before them. Sans the Skeleton slumped in the centre of the hallway, his perpetual grin displaying each of his razor sharp teeth. The sunlight that had previously seemed so warm was now menacing as it reflected from Sans' single golden tooth.

"what's with that face?" Sans' smile seemed to grow. "you look chilled to the bone." He laughed, his shoulders shaking in his black and yellow fur lined coat. "come on kiddo, i'm just messing with ya."

Tightening their grip upon the knife, Frisk raised it to point towards the last living skeleton brother.

A drip of sweat manifested on Sans' brow. "no need for that kiddo. i'm just here to talk."

Frisk narrowed their eyes, refusing to lower their knife. The skeleton was dangerous. He has threatened them at multiple points on the journey, and hadn't even seemed to care when they had killed his brother. They weren't going to trust anyone who could just ignore the death of a sibling and go on to chat to his killer without batting an eye … socket.

Sans sighed. "fine. you keep that knife then, if it makes ya feel better." He leaned forward, and Frisk instinctively leant away. "well lookie at you kiddo. you've killed everybody down here." He paused. "well not everybody. i'm still here, asgore's only in the room down the hall and that god damn flower's still knocking around somewhere." He laughed. "but you've sure given it a good shot. look at you! your level of violence is off the chart, and i've never seen anyone with so many execution points. You have even more that asgore, and I didn't know that was even possible." He took one clawed hand out from his pockets and reached out towards them. Running each claw through Frisk's hair as they stood there, frozen. "i'm impressed kiddo, seriously. that's some determination you have there."

Frisk shuddered discreetly as he removed his hand, wincing as he winked at them.

"you've really proved yourself. i'll admit, when i first saw you after you left the ruins i thought you'd be dead within the hour. lv or no. but you made it all this way, you sure showed them. heh, well so long as you seem to understand how things work down here i suppose I can let you go."

Silence. Frisk stared in unhidden surprise at the short skeleton.

"what?" Sans asked. "i haven't any reason to fight you. i know how to pick my fights you know. seriously there's a reason i'm boss's lackey you know." He stepped aside. "well, what are ya waiting for? go on, asgore's just ahead. Go kill him, take his soul and head on up through the barrier." He laughed again. "i look forward to hearing about what you do to the humans."

And he was gone.

Spinning around, Frisk frantically looked back and forward, trying to see where the skeleton had disappeared to. But it was to no avail. There was not a trace of the Monster to be seen.

It was a while before they moved on, a while before they managed to convince themself that Sans wasn't going to appear in the same manner that he had vanished. That he wasn't going to attack them mercilessly, to kill them from behind. They weren't going to make the mistake of thinking he was gone. They knew how good the skeleton was at not being seen. He had snuck up on them so many times throughout their journey. Each time they had been met with a sharp bone to the back. Only their ability to SAVE had kept them alive through Sans' antics. Frisk doubted it had kept them sane though. What sane person would remorselessly kill so many people – monsters – with next to no provocation.

Eventually they continued down the hall, forcing themself to place one foot in front of the other, resisting the urge to spin around in paranoia at the sound of their own feet on the tiles.

Their hand met the door at the end of the corridor and they pushed it slowly, careful not to make too much noise. Then they were out.

The grey corridor they were met with was such a contrast to the golden one they had just left. This place spoke of foreboding and the final battle they were about to walk into. It sent a chill down Frisk's spine. Regardless they pushed on, crossing to the fork in the path in swift steps. They looked up at the door then turned to peer down the rest of the corridor. Shivering they turned back to the grand door and pushed it open.

The room before them was filled with a field of golden flowers. In the centre of the garden stood a lone chair. A throne, and within it sat the Monster that could only be the king of all Monsters. Asgore.

The great Goat Monster looked down at them, a frown deepening upon his brow.

"So you are the human who has caused my people so much trouble." He spoke, his deep voice somehow filling Frisk with a sense of calm, despite their fear. "How pathetic. That so many Monsters could not dispose of a single child. They deserved their deaths at your hand."

Frisk swallowed, the calm shattered. What sort of King could say such a thing about the Genocide of his people?

"Come then, human. We shall battle at the barrier itself. Upon your death I shall break the barrier and begin the invasion. It may be harder now, with so few Monsters left to fight for my cause. But with the powers of the seven human souls I shall act as a god and destroy the humans for their crimes." Asgore stood, and made to head out the door at the back of the garden.

"No!" Frisk shouted, surprising themself at how loudly they spoke. "No, we fight here." They weren't about to follow this Monster anywhere. Who knows what sorts of traps he had prepared for them up ahead.

Asgore turned towards them and regarded them solemnly. "As you wish human. Your death shall occur here, in this field of flowers. Ironic really. That both the first Monster and the last Human in this war should die upon the same bed of flowers."

Frisk swallowed the curiosity that began burning within them at those words, instead lifting their knife once more and pointing it at the Monster King.

The world faded away as Asgore yanked Frisk's soul from their body, leaving it floating vulnerably between the pair.

The hissing of a charging attack.

Frisk spun, knife swinging blindly at the threat they had not expected.

The crack of knife meeting bone.

Two sets of eyes meeting each other, widening in unison as bone crumbled away and began spilling red onto the floor.

"Sans?" They breathed, shocked. "What?"

"heh." The skeleton choked out. "guess that's that then." For the first time in Frisk's memory the skeleton's perpetual grin had slipped from his face. "and here i thought i could avenge you boss. heh. guess not. i really am trash aren't i boss?"

Then slowly, still dripping red onto the floor, Sans disintegrated. His dust blowing away on the wind and leaving nothing but the stain of red upon the floor.

A flash of fire, far too close for comfort, dragged Frisk back to their fight and forcing them to put aside Sans' death for the moment.

Asgore growled in fury as they dodged as quickly as they could. Their knife flashed out before them as they dash towards him.

Another spout of flame had them abandoning their charge and duck down to the ground. They did not stay on the ground for long, rolling forward and springing back up, running again. This time not directly towards the King, instead zigzagging their way across the room, allowing them to easily slip past each fireball he flung in their direction.

The Goat Monster stumbled back as Frisk suddenly appeared in his immediate field of vision.

"Boo." They whispered, mostly to themself and dug their blade forward, meeting slight resistance against his chest plate, but pushing forward then ripping their arm to the side, shredding Asgore's defences as they went.

He did not collapse immediately, he had earned his title as King of the Monsters after all. A giant paw clutched at the relatively shallow wound Frisk had managed to inflict.

A trident manifested itself in the grip of Asgore's other hand and he swung it around effortlessly, seemingly unhindered by his injuries. Flames erupted into being around him and the King now began his own charge, forcing Frisk to retreat lest they fall to his attack.

Shaking themself Frisk made to attack again, dodging a burst of flame and deflecting the thrust of the trident with the blade of their knife. Unable to swing it around to dig it into Asgore as they held it against the trident, Frisk instead kicked out blindly against the Monster.

The impact did little to no damage, yet it staggered Asgore nonetheless. Less due to the force Frisk could put behind their leg and more due to the surprise nature of the attack. Both Frisk and Asgore knew there was no chance that it would actually harm it.

But that stumble, paired with slight hesitation, gave Frisk the chance to yank their knife around and slash wildly at Asgore's midsection once again, though they had to fall to the floor immediately to avoid the retaliatory swing of the trident, no longer impeded from attacking.

In their haste to escape the magical blade, they failed to see the fire ball that impacted with their side. They let out a surprised yell and almost failed to roll back to their feet – a mistake that would have been fatal with their close proximity to the King.

The burn against their side slowed them, forcing them to make allowances for the searing pain that now shot through their side every time they moved. Pushing through the pain they made to charge forward again, but this time Asgore found no difficulty in forcing them to retreat, the swing of a blade that barely missed pushing them back out of the range of its swing.

They both stilled.

Asgore's tattered clothing offered no more protection against their blade, if only they could reach him to dig it in. His trident may have been easy to avoid before but now Frisk was injured and slow it would be all too easy for the experienced monster to cut them clean in half with it. Frisk's own clothing was falling apart now as well, what little was left of it singed and smoking. Not that it had offered much in the way of protection in the first place, but now Frisk had lost the illusion of safety that had come from the soft woollen jumper engulfing their entire being.

Their fingers lifted to curl around the suddenly far too cold exterior of the heart shaped amulet they had found earlier within the living area of the palace.

Asgore gasped, stumbling backwards as he stared at Frisk as though he had suddenly seen a ghost. "Chara?" He asked in shock, before shaking his head. "No Chara is dead, and you have stolen their belongings human." His mouth split into a savage snarl. "For that you shall feel pain beyond anything before you die human."

The overwhelming heat that threatened to consume them left them curled on the ground, gasping in pain. Their jumper had now completely burned away, leaving their skin blistering and on display to the Goat Monster as he stepped menacingly towards their helpless form.

"You put up a good fight." The King admitted. "I doubt any other could have managed to turn you in, but you sealed your fate in coming here to fight with me. You shall die here Human." He raised his trident to deal the final blow.

Frisk frantically shoved their blade up towards Asgore with the last of their strength.

And hit.

The trident faded away to nothing instantly, leaving the King of all Monsters stumbling away from Frisk clutching at the knife still buried in his chest.

Already Asgore was turning to dust. Frisk dragged themself up to watch as his skin cracked and disintegrated, rummaging around in their inventory for the healing items they knew were sequestered within.

They had torn through two Glam-burgers when it happened.

A thick emerald vine, covered in crimson spines punctured the chest of the already dying King, ending the slow death instantly and causing him to explode into dust that slowly drifted down to the ground.

The white Monster soul floated innocently right where Asgore's heart had just been impaled by the vine.

"Howdy!" Came a familiar voice from the ground where Asgore's dust now settled. "Its been a while hasn't it Frisk?"

Frisk stared wide eyed at the weak flower monster. "Since Toriel." They muttered, half to themself.

Flowey's eyes narrowed. "Yes." He agreed. "Since Toriel." He took a deep breath. "I never did explain why I so wanted you to spare her did I Frisk?" He giggled inanely, and Frisk wondered briefly if Toriel's death had affected the flower's mental health in some way. "Well I don't think I feel like explaining at all. I'm not like that skeleton. I'm not willing to pretend not to care. Not even to get the chance to end you." Flowey's face split apart in a way Frisk had never realised he could do. "No. I intend to end you in an entirely different way."

The same vine that had finished Asgore wrapped suddenly around his soul and dragged it towards Flowey. The small monster's face opened wider, and wider still, until the vine lowered the soul into his mouth and Flowey swallowed it whole.

Flowey's form bubbled, and for a moment Frisk thought that he might melt, much like Undyne had when she had finally died. But the bubbling did not flow away, instead it flowed outwards, building up till it formed a shape similar in height to Frisk's body.

Suddenly Flowey's strange reaction to Toriel's death made much more sense. The form that now stared them down was that of a Goat Monster. Much smaller than either Toriel or the newly deceased Asgore. No, Flowey appeared much younger, the child Frisk no longer felt like.

Flowey opened their new eyes and met Frisk's evenly, a tangible hatred burning within them that Frisk could not help but feel was entirely justified.

"I lied to you back then." Flowey admitted. "When I told you my name. But you see I abandoned it when I lost this form. Even now I'm only going to be able to keep it for so long." He let out a small, bitter laugh. "Asgore's soul is only so powerful, and still nothing when compared to a human's. But you know I think I'm alright with that. I only need long enough to kill you after all, I don't want to be able to feel like this after. But I suppose I'll allow you a new introduction shall I? Howdy, Frisk the not-human. I'm Asriel Dreemurr."

Frisk frowned inwardly. The way that Flowey, no Asriel was talking was rather strange. Asriel was heavily suggesting that he was about to attack them, but he was at an obvious disadvantage. Frisk knew for a fact that Flowey had been a weak monster, and had read the research in Alphys' Lab that told of how a monster soul gave next to know power. There was no reason to believe that Asriel would be able to give up much of a fight at all.

Yet the very fact that the once flower had come before them, that he had taken Asgore's soul instead of letting it dissipate, suggested that Asriel had every intention of attacking them.

A thought that was confirmed when the diminutive Goat Monster summoned up a series of small fireballs and flung them in Frisk's direction.

Fireballs that fizzled out of existence before they even reached Frisk.

A snort escaped Frisk's lips. "That's it?" They found themself asking. "After all that build up, that all the magic you could muster up?"

Asriel's mouth twisted into a sad smile. "Yeah, I never did get old enough to learn how to fight properly. Oh well, I'll have to make do. My DETERMINATION won't let me lose."

Then there was a searing heat as flames seemed to surround them from nowhere, and their soul shattered as they felt to the ground.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

RELOADING hardly fazed them any more, as many times as they had done it they had become used to the disorientation that came with suddenly being somewhere else, and with far fewer injuries.

What did shock them was the fact that they had not reappeared back at their SAVE point. Instead they stood once again before Asriel, his Flower form already having been discarded.

It threw them for an instant. An instant that was long enough to allow Asriel to set them ablaze once more.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

It took several more reloads before Frisk was able to grow used to being flung straight back into battle, without the chance to think through strategies, to remember previous attacks and think of how to avoid them next time. Somehow they doubted that mattered, each attack Asriel made upon them was different. The product of an enemy who was attacking based on what Frisk was doing, not their own pre practised attacks.

Had Frisk been the sort of fighter that had learnt how to fight beforehand it might have made Asriel an easy opponent, but they were far to accustomed to watching, learning and picking apart the moves of their opponents. The ability to SAVE and RELOAD had become a huge crutch, and now Frisk was struggling to fight without it.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

Frisk came out of their RELOAD fast and furious, dashing forward and for the first time managing to plunge their knife into Asriel's fur as he stumbled clumsily away from them. But instead of turning the small monster to dust as it had to all the others, the wound in Asriel's side bubbled and closed near instantly.

They stopped and stared, a sound of frustration escaping their lips at the sight of their work being undone in seconds.

A jet of flame that they didn't think to even try and dodge.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

This time as they dashed forwards, Asriel's stumble brought him out of the path of their blade and they were forced to retreat from the gout of fire he sent in retaliation.

They did not bother trying to keep their distance. Asriel's flames made him a long range fighter, and Frisk was forced into close combat by the virtue of their only weapon being a knife. Distance only gave him the advantage.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

It took them a while to notice. At first they had attributed the changes to their own mental exhaustion at having to fight non stop when they were used to getting breaks after each death. But it was definitely there, Asriel was getting stronger.

"You're doing something." They accused, gasping for breath and trying not to let on how relieved they were that Asriel stopped to answer them.

"I don't know what you're talking about." A slight smirk grew on his lips. "I'm not doing anything. My DETERMINATION isn't that strong."

"You know about the RESET." Frisk murmured to the themself, then louder, "You remember."

"Remember what?" Asriel asked mockingly. "The way you killed everyone in the ruins. The way you refused to listen to me as I begged you to spare Toriel's life?" He glared. "Or perhaps you mean the way I've killed you 49 times at this point."

Frisk scowled. "Then why bother? You know I'll come back. You know that I'll eventually win. You can't match my DETERMINATION."

Asriel lifted a single shoulder in a half shrug. "So? At least I'll know I tried my hardest to end you. To stop the abomination you've become. You've fallen to the same obsession the entire Underground used to follow. The need to gain more EXP. To have the highest LV. To be the strongest of them all. I may not believe in Asgore's KILL or BE killed, but I know when I have to make a stand. I can recognise someone who's beyond SAVING."

Frisk straightened slightly, their breath no longer coming in desperate pants. "So you intend to fight me here forever? Well, until I finally beat you."

"No." Asriel told them. "I want you to know that we can still be friends. Not here, not now. But I will forgive you if you use that power of yours once more now to RESET the timeline completely. To return to the Ruins and start your journey anew. I'm willing to settle for just getting them back. I won't hold a grudge. I promise."

Wide eyes fixed on Asriel's form. It was a foreign concept, the idea of forgiveness on that level. It made them pause, to think about if all this was really worth it. Here, the only person who would remember what they had done was willing to let it go if they just turned back now.

No. They'd gone too far to give up now. They'd spent so long figuring out how to beat each member of the underground. Even those the monsters considered weaklings had stolen their life countless times. This was their own form of justice. They weren't going to give up just because they'd found a difficult enemy. Undyne must have killed them a hundred times before they finally got her.

Asriel shook his head sadly. "You aren't going to listen are you?" A ring of fire fizzled into existence around him. "Guess we'll just have to make that 50 deaths."

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

Neither party even paused at Frisk's death any longer. They were both fully aware that the other remembered each and every event, and neither of them cared to keep up the pretence that they were attacking for the first time on each occasion.

There were no breaks, and the only words spoken as Frisk fell to the ground at a burst of deadly flame;

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

Frisk wasn't one to count their deaths, that was just an easy way to lose DETERMINATION, and in a fight like this that would kill them for good. But they must have died far many more times to Asriel than they ever had to any of the monsters in the Underground. Frisk wouldn't have been surprised if Asriel had killed them more than all the others had managed combined.

With each death it was growing harder to hold onto their resolution. With each recitation of those same words Frisk felt like giving up a little more. But no, they were DETERMINED. They weren't going to lose to a Kid.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

"That's a thousand."

The unexpected words threw Frisk off, making them blink in a stupor at Asriel. "What?" They muttered, momentarily confused.

"One thousand deaths." Asriel repeated. "How many more before you give up?"

"How many more till you just lay down and die?" Frisk shot back, irritation flaring up.

Asriel shrugged. "At least a thousand more." He told them and charged in to attack them again

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

They hesitated.

Should they really CONTINUE?

Could they keep this up?

Would it just be easier to do as Asriel had told them?

Should they reset?

[CONTINUE]

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

They weren't getting anywhere. They only knew how to use a knife so well, and Asriel was certainly more skilled with his flames. Maybe they could wait him out? He'd told them he only had so long before Asgore's soul ran out of power and they returned to the form of a flower, hadn't they? Frisk couldn't really remember. They'd died so many times now.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

Outlasting him didn't work. Back before they'd started aiming for it they might have lasted ten or so minutes between RESETS, but once he'd realised what they were aiming for they were lucky to last even half of that.

"I just wish you'd listened to me back then, we could have been friends."

* * *

Five thousand, two hundred and three deaths. Asriel had told them after each thousand mark and at five thousand they had started keeping track on their own.

Five thousand, two hundred and three deaths.

They were done.

No more.

They couldn't keep doing this.

They couldn't bear to die here again.

[RESET]


	2. FRUITS WITH CORRUPTED ROOTS

**I would just like to tell everyone that Asriel was not meant to let it slip that he remembered the RESETS last chapter. He is a very misbehaving charcter, and now I have to add a new scene to accommodate for his decision. A scene that is 1600 words long and I could probably have posted on its own, if Chapter 1 didn't make me feel like these things had to be long...**

 **Also Nabstablook keeps trying to autocorrect to Tablespoon...**

 **And actually writing Undertale is giving me panics about how to spell things like Grillbys (I have no internet to check rn), and if I should capitalise Monster. I did decide to in the end but I might have missed some, let me know.**

 **For anyone interested I write these notes as I write the chapter with little complaints about how its going.**

 **Still need a Beta Reader/Proof Reader.**

 **I keep almost writing 'Goat Mom' when writing Toriel, which makes no sense because she's really not acting like one.**

 **For any fans of Gravity falls, I'm going to Reedsport today (16/07/2017) to see the Bill Cipher statue. I'm going to shake his hand and ask him to get me into Uni in exchange for my brother's soul. Should be fun.**

 **I hate writing this Toriel. I miss Goat Mom. Still watching 'To The Bone'**

 **I'm really surprised if people are reading this.**

 **For anyone still reading this I am currently hiding in a closet. For no reason at all. Just want to freak out my parents for when they come home to an empty house. My brother's under his bed. (matpat has a recording closet, I have a writing closet now)**

 **Also listening to 'I ship it' on youtube**

 **To anyone curious I have decided that it doesn't count as major character death if the character doesn't die permanently.**

 **Also - WARNING. DEAD BABY JOKES in Toriel fight. I dont like them myself, dont hate me for it.**

 **... and there's a bit of fluff in here, somehow...**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2 – FRUITS WITH CORRUPTED ROOTS**

The fall hurt. They'd forgotten the pain that had come with their tumble to the Underground. In all honesty they had probably done their best to forget it. They'd had no reason the think they might ever experience it again.

The Ruins felt familiar however. They were not pleasant, no the constant cold, damp and dark was anything but welcoming. Pulling themself to their feet they looked around at the place they had started their journey. Plant life had invaded the room, this the only place in the Underground where sunlight fell. The tiles had been displaced, pushed aside in the favour of vines growing from the earth beneath. The air tasted musty. Dust blew through the room, settling among the crevices it found and giving everything a faint cover of white.

They hadn't noticed how ominous that felt the last time they were here. Then again, when they last left this room they hadn't known a thing about Monsters.

Hadn't known how they turned to dust when they died. Back then dust had just been dust.

Even without the general atmosphere of the Ruins, that dust made the place seem sinister.

Frisk carefully picked their way through the room, not wanting to trip over the uneven floor in the low light. The door out of the room was huge, much like the one back at the palace. But the paint on this one had flaked so badly you had to look for it to know it was there. The plant life had overgrown so much of it that

Frisk couldn't push it open offhand.

As they removed their hand to shove at the door with their shoulder they swallowed, it was covered in dust. It sickened them. Why did it sicken them? They'd touched far more dust than this before the RESET. The closest they'd come to washing any of it off was when they'd travelled through Waterfall, and they'd hardly lingered there any longer than they had to.

Shaking their disgust away, Frisk lowered their shoulder and shoved as hard as they could. The door gave slightly, then began moving slowly and with a terrible creaking sound.

The moment the gap was large enough to accommodate them Frisk stopped, pausing for a moment to catch their breath. Then they began the task of squeezing through the doorway into the hallway beyond.

Asriel was waiting for them in the centre of another pool of light, peering up at them with an unreadable expression. "Howdy Frisk." They greeted flatly.

"Asriel." Frisk commented.

A full body flinch worked its way through the Flower. "You do remember." He muttered. "I almost hoped you wouldn't."

"Why?" Frisk found themself asking. "If I didn't remember anything I wouldn't have any reason to spare Toriel would I?"

"I suppose not." Asriel agreed. "But then we wouldn't have to have this conversation."

"So don't have it. You said you'd forgive me, so we just pretend it never happened."

"But it did happen." Stressed Asriel. "Just because you have the ability to RESET everything and make everyone else forget, that doesn't resolve you of your crimes. That doesn't mean we can just move on." He swallowed. "The truth is you did kill everyone. They may not remember it, but you did. You could easily do it again. Maybe I don't want to forgive you."

Frisk eyes narrowed. "You said you would."

"I'd have said anything to just make you stop." Asriel admitted. "Its like you said, you'd have beaten me eventually. The only way for me to stop you was through a RESET. But I needed to convince you to start it."

A growl of anger escaped Frisk's lips. "So why exactly should I not kill everyone again, hmm? What stops me from killing you right here and now Asriel?"

"Please don't call me that Frisk. Its Flowey like this."

They sent a withering glare at the Flower and he shrank away from them in fear. "I don't care." They told him. "Asriel – Flowey, whichever you prefer. I want to know what's stopping me from just killing you then the rest of the Underground."

Flowey shrank that bit more. "Nothing." They admitted sadly. "There's nothing stopping you from doing that."

Clenching their fist, Frisk took a breath long enough to wish that they'd stopped to grab a stick before heading through that door. As ineffectual a weapon as it was, they really wanted something to hit Flowey with right now.

"But I don't think you will. No that's not right, I do think you will, I just really hope you won't." Flowey told them, his stem slowly straightening. "I may not want to forgive you Frisk, but I'm willing to try, so long as you actually try to change. I really do mean it Frisk, don't kill anyone."

Frisk scowled. "And what about when they try to kill me? You know they will, your people are Monsters in all meanings of the word."

"I know." Flowey admitted quietly. "I know that, I've spent my whole life trying to change that about them, but they don't want to listen." He closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I don't know why I think you'll listen either. So make a choice now. Kill me if you must, or agree to not harm a single one of them. No matter what."

"I should kill you." Frisk told them bluntly. "I should walk over there, pull you out of the ground and rip your petals off one by one." They stepped towards the flower, bending down so they could see the way he was trying to hide the way he was shaking.

Reaching down, Frisk closed their hand around Flowey's stem and pulled. Flowey gave little to no resistance, allowing them to remove him from the ground.

They tilted him, so they could pear at his face, at the way tears were gathering at those tightly clenched eyes.

They sighed. "I'm not going to kill you."

Those eyes blinked open, staring up at Frisk in amazement. "Really?" He asked. "You really mean it?"

Frisk snorted. "I'm not a liar Flowey. The condition of the RESET was that I couldn't do what I did last time, so you want me to SPARE Toriel, right?"

"No!" Flowey shouted, surprising the both of them, "I don't want you to just leave Toriel alone. You can't hurt anyone. You have to be a better person. I know you could do it."

"I really don't want to though." Frisk told him. "I haven't agreed to do that either. So why should I?"

"Because..." Flowey trailed off.

"See, you can't think of a good reason." Frisk told him, snorting slightly.

"That's not it!" Came the protest from Flowey. "I just... because it's the right thing to do alright? I want you to leave everyone alone because that's what a good person would do."

"There isn't a person alive that's saintly enough to forgive all those Monsters do." Frisk told Flowey with a roll of their eyes.

"Yeah." Flowey agreed. "There isn't anyone who'd forgive you either. But I'm going to try, so please do the same."

Straightening up, Frisk considered their options. They didn't really want to act like some saintly pacifist, it wasn't the way they thought. Then again, if they didn't at least pretend to go along with Flowey then he'd probably stop them at the barrier again. "I just have to try right?" The asked. "If it really doesn't work out I haven't committed to anything more and I don't have to keep going."

Flowey looked like he really wanted to object to that idea.

"Look, Flowey, I'm not a saint. I'm not capable of pretending to be one. I'm not really willing to try. If this doesn't work out I'm not going to continue it." The plant Monster still looked hesitant. "You can pick what counts as too much if you really want. But you have to pick now, and it has to be reasonable."  
The plant closed his eyes briefly, think it over. "Alright." They agreed finally

"And the condition for giving up?"

"Something about how many times a specific Monster kills you? A hundred times maybe? But that only counts for that Monster, you can't kill the next Monster you meet till they've killed you a hundred times as well."

"That's ridiculous. Fifty deaths at the most."

"Undyne killed you 107 times when you were outright trying to murder her. You should be glad I didn't set the bar higher, 90 times."

"I'm better at dodging now, a lot better, and half of those deaths were because I didn't understand how to block her spear attack things. 60 times."

"80 times and I'll use my Friendliness Pellets to heal you."

"70 times, the friendliness pellets and I won't complain about it. Much."

Flowey let out a heavy sigh. "Fine. Have it your way. 70 deaths, friendliness pellets and if you complain too much you have to go without the friendliness pellets till I feel like using them again."

Frisk paused. "You'll let me know if I'm beginning to get on your nerves instead of cutting me off outright?"

"If you insist." Flowey grumbled.

"Deal."

"Deal."

A short silence where the pair eyed each other up.

"Want to ride on my shoulder?" Frisk asked finally.

Flowey nodded. "I'll watch your back if you want?"

"Thanks." Frisk said, a little reluctant.

They looked up, now that the confrontation was over they felt strangely drained.

"I still have to walk all the way to Toriel's house." They grumbled. "Why are the Ruins so damn long?"

"The puzzles should be easier this time at least? We do know the solutions now." Flowey offered, trying to be supportive.

"Whatever." Frisk muttered, starting onwards.

The puzzle in the first room seemed laughably easy now (If much cleaner than the previous rooms). The riddle was hardly worthy of being called one and they mostly just didn't understand how they had died here the first time.

All of the puzzles seemed so unnecessary now. Frisk may not have consciously remembered each one, but there was a certain level of familiarity that made it all too easy to find what had taken them so long to do on their previous RUN.

The first Froggit they met made them stop and stare for a moment. They'd almost forgotten that they existed, it having been so long since they had last seen one.

"Don't kill it." Flowey whispered urgently in their ear.

"I know that." Frisk protested. There was a short silence. "What do I do then?"

Flowey shrugged. "I don't know, compliment it?"

"I'm not complimenting a frog." Frisk spat quietly at the Monster on their shoulder, then louder. "Oi, Frog, if you don't move aside now I'm going to rip you apart."

There was no reaction.

"I don't think it understands you..." Flowey muttered. "So you'll try complimenting it next?"

Frisk turned their head to stare at the flower. "If it didn't understand me," They spoke slowly, as though to an uncomprehending child, "Why on earth would complimenting it work?"

The argument would have continued if the Froggit hadn't picked that moment to leap towards them, causing Frisk to let out a yelp and jump clumsily backwards, not quite avoiding the Froggit entirely.

"I thought you said you'd gotten better at dodging!" Flowey all but yelled into their ear.

"It surprised me!" Frisk objected. "And you were distracting me!"

"Pay attention!" Flowey shouted. "It's coming back around!"

Frisk leapt aside to doge the next leap. "Is that better dodging for you?" They asked, keeping their eyes locked on the Froggit that was now shaking itself in the corner of the room, likely working up to attack them again.

"Whatever." Flowey spat. "Start thinking. How do we convince it to leave us alone?"

Frisk didn't think long, the answer seemed obvious to them. "I'm going to beat it up." They said. "Not kill it, just attack it till it realises not to mess with us."

"You can't do that!" Flowey was aghast. "That's not what a good person would do!"

"Too bad, I'm not a good person." Frisk replied.

"Fine. What are you going to attack it with you idiot."

Frisk froze, they hadn't thought of that.

"Idiot." Flowey reiterated. He paused. "There's a stick over there if you must, but don't you dare kill it."

The stick in question looked fairly sturdy. It would have been a great idea if it hadn't been on the other side of the Froggit. The Froggit that looked like it had finally pulled itself together for its next attack.

Frisk swore loudly as the frog Monster opened its mouth wide and belched out a swarm of flies.

"Language!" Flowey admonished, even as he tried to duck down into Frisk's shirt.

"You are not my mother." Frisk spat. "I can swear whenever I want."

"Look out!"

Frisk dived to the ground. "I knew that was coming." They didn't, they just weren't about to admit Flowey was helping.

"Ow." Was all Flowey said, his head having hit the floor hard when Frisk had dropped.

Frisk put the flower out of their mind and eyed the Froggit, it hadn't moved. Pushing themself from the ground Frisk dashed forwards, suddenly enough that the

Froggit jumped away in shock.

Scooping the stick up from the ground Frisk ran at the Froggit, raising the stick high and was about to bring it down when a vine wrapped around their arm and yanked it off course.

"What was that for?!" They growled at the flower, pulling their arm free and jumping away from the frog Monster that used the opportunity to charge at them again.

"You can't hit it that hard!" Flowey explained hurriedly. "Froggits are really weak. That would have killed it."

"Then maybe it shouldn't be picking fights." Frisk muttered in irritation making another, gentler, swing at the Froggit as it came around for another pass.

The attack barely clipped it, yet the Froggit fell over and stopped moving. Frisk would have thought it dead if they hadn't known Monsters turned to dust if they died.

"Is it playing dead?" Frisk asked Flowey. "It knows there's no way that would work right?"

Flowey squinted at the Froggit's prone form. "Maybe it just doesn't want to fight any more?"

"I doubt it." Frisk frowned. "Maybe I should hit it again, just to be safe."

"It'll die if you do that!" Flowey shook his head frantically. "Just leave it alone, it isn't in the way, so we can just move on."

"Fine." Frisk agreed sullenly.

And then they immediately had to backtrack past the Froggit to check the positions of the Spikes that would retreat that were displayed in the previous room. Frisk grumbling all the way.

The rest of the Ruins was completed in much the same way. If Frisk did not immediately remember the answers, they remembered how to reach them. The battles were spent ignoring Flowey's advice on the Monsters and just attacking them until they left. They were keeping their word, Flowey had no reason to complain.

They had just passed a SAVE point, (The one next to the slice of cheese that someone had solidified in glue so the mice could only look at it in hunger) when they saw him. They vaguely remembered the ghost from their last run. They hadn't been able to hit him, and the Ghost (Nabstablook?) had mocked them for it. He'd run around them, tried to attack them in a rather half-hearted way and then just left. At least Frisk knew they could make him go away without killing him this time.

The painfully false snoring sounds the Ghost was making filled the room as Frisk walked towards him, Flowey's stem extending slightly so the flower could get a closer view.

"We could creep around him and leave him be." Flowey suggested.

"Please tell me you don't think he's sleeping." Frisk groaned.

"Well... yes." Flowey admitted. "But he wouldn't be pretending if he didn't want to be left alone so we really should. Unless you want to try and cheer him up?"

Frisk let out a snort. "Yeah, no. Sneaking around him it is."

It was harder than one might think to not disturb the (not) sleeping ghost. Nabstablook had positioned himself in the narrowest point in the path, and had sprawled out so he took up near all the space available to walk on. Nonetheless, Frisk managed to tip toe their way past with the whispered help from Flowey on where to put their feet.

Once they had reached the other side, Frisk let out a sigh of relief and made to leave the room when the voice came.

"Ignoooring peooople is rude yooou knooow."

Frisk stood stock still, then slowly turned to face the now upright Ghost. "Hey Nabstablook." They greeted reluctantly. "I really wasn't ignoring you."

"But yoooou knew I was there." The ghost floated slowly towards them. "Yooou dooon't care abooout me. Yoou're like everyooone else. Yoooou want tooo bully pooooor ooold Nabstablook." Backing up quickly, not wanting to touch the ghost as in their last run he had killed them outright for being 'disrespectful' and passing through his body, Frisk managed to get out.

"I swear its not like that Nabstablook, you were sleeping and you looked comfortable. I just didn't want to disturb you. That's all."

Nabstablook eyed them suspiciously, but didn't make a move to attack. For a moment Frisk thought he was going to let them go, but then he started moving towards them again. "I dooon't believe yooou." The ghost told them. "Yooou just want tooo pretend I'm nooot here. Like its a great joooke, just because I'm a ghoost and I can't toouch you. Yoou're really hurting my feelings yooou knoow."

And with that the Ghost attacked.

"Fuck." Frisk swore and dived to the side as a stream of tears shot straight at them.

"Don't be mean." Flowey admonished. "He's obviously upset, maybe you could try and cheer him up?"

Frisk would have stopped and glared at the flower, but the Ghost's attacks meant they didn't really have the opportunity to do so. Regardless they did manage to spit out an answer. "He'll leave us alone eventually. He did before."

Flowey snorted. "He wasn't quite this annoyed before. I don't think he likes being ignored."

"Why are yooou talking like I'm noot here? Yoou're making me upset." Nabstablook wailed.

Frisk pursed their lips. "That's on you." They told Flowey, then to Nabstablook. "Yeah, sorry … about him. Flowey's … really rude."

Flowey scowled. "What's that for?" He complained.

"You told me to cheer him up." Frisk whispered furiously. "He was upset by you ignoring him, so I apologised for you, maybe you should as well."

Flowey stared, taken off guard for a moment. He bit his lip, then called out. "I'm really sorry Nabstablook. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Nabstablook paused in his attack and Frisk gave a sigh of relief at the reprieve, then immediately wished they hadn't.

"Yoou're sighing! Yoou doon't like me. Yoou just want me too goo away!" Nabstablook cried, his tears flooding the room once more.

Frisk groaned.

"Don't do that, you'll upset him more." Flowey muttered. "Look he cheered up a bit when I apologised. You should too. Then, I don't know, give him a compliment or something."

Frisk glared at the flower, but did as they were told. "Nabstablook, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to … sigh." They paused.

"Compliment him." Flowey prompted.

"I errr, like your …" Frisk paused. What was there about this Ghost that they could compliment? "Glow?"

Frisk thought it was a fair enough compliment. Nabstablook was a patch of black … ghost-ness surrounded by a pleasant enough red glow. Flowey didn't really seem to agree though, if the way he planted his face on their shoulder was any indication.

Nabstablook sniffled. "Yooou dooo?" He asked.

"Sure." Frisk agreed quickly, "It looks err … good with the black." They paused, then decided to continue. "Kinda like blood?"

The glow brightened and Nabstablook's mouth twisted upwards in an approximation of a smile. "Really? That's what I was goooing fooor."

"Well it works." Frisk was beginning to get into this complimenting thing. "I bet it terrifies a lot of Monsters."

Nabstablook nodded. "It sure doooes. It helps that they can't attack me back. Mooonsters run away from me a looot." Nabstablook looked so proud at that fact.

"This is working?" Flowey muttered. "Why? Why is this working?"

Frisk ignored the flower. "That's great." They told Nabstablook instead. "Do you think I could learn to do something like that? I mean, all these weak Froggits keep attacking me and I needed something to, you know, make them think twice before attacking someone they shouldn't mess with."

Nabstablook nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe yooou shoould wear black and red tooo. Yooou coould proobably get a striped shirt froom Toooriel."

"And now you're swapping fashion tips." Flowey said in disbelief. "How did you go from trying to kill each other to fashion tips?"

"Stripes huh?" Frisk nodded thoughtfully. "I'll think about it."

The group stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"Yoou're gooing too leave noow, aren't yooou?" Nabstablook said sadly.

Clearing their throat, Frisk gave a small shrug. "I guess? I mean, if I want to go see these striped shirts I should really get going to Toriel's house."

"yeah …" Nabstablook agreed sadly.

"Oh for …" Flowey shouted. "You can see each other again. This is just a goodbye. We could come visit you at your place Nabstablook, its in Waterfall right?"

Nabstablook perked up a little. "That's right. I'll see yoou there." Then faded away.

Frisk waited a moment, wanting to make sure he was really gone. "What if I don't want to see him again?" They asked Flowey finally.

"Too bad." The flower told them. "You basically just became his best friend … somehow."

"Complimenting him was your idea." Frisk pointed out.

"I … didn't know it would work quite so well." Flowey admitted.

Frisk shrugged, then thought of something. "I'm not complimenting the Froggits." They warned.

"Somehow, I wasn't expecting you to." Flowey said, deadpan. "Let's just go already." A short silence. "You know you liked him. If you'd just gone through here killing everyone you'd never have found that out."

"Shut up. I didn't." Frisk denied, moving forward quickly. "Was it left or right here?" They asked.

"Left, I think." Flowey told them, allowing the change in subject. "But there's a spider bakery the other way, we could go look?"

"Fine." Frisk agreed.

"No need to sound so annoyed. You can just say no." Flowey muttered.

"We're going alright." Frisk told him. "You wanted to, we're going."

As they strode through the entrance to the spider bakery Flowey muttered, mostly to himself. "Sound's like you're the one who wants to go." But Frisk ignored him.

* * *

9999G" Frisk read. "Where on earth are you supposed to get 9999G."

Flowey just shrugged.

"We have like 7G." Frisk continued, unable to understand what they were seeing. "7. G. That is nowhere near 9999G. Last run, at the end, after stealing from everyone after killing them and buying nothing I only had like 2000G. How do these spiders intend to sell anything? What are they even raising money for?"

Flowey shrugged again. "I didn't realise this would offend you so much." He muttered. "Though I do admit it seems counterproductive to sell this at such a high price. You're right about no one being able to afford it." He paused. "Well the Temmies might, but they're kinda … fierce about not getting ripped off."

The pair continued staring at the sign in the web.

"I'm hungry." Frisk said finally. "Think we could just steal one? There's no one here to stop us."

"I really wouldn't recommend that." Flowey told them. "The spiders here might not be able to do anything, but they'll tell Muffet, and we'll have to go past her to reach the barrier."

Frowning, Frisk considered their options. Muffet hadn't really seemed all that hard to beat before. Sure she'd made a nuisance of herself by wrapping Frisk up in her webs, but it had been simple to cut their way out and she hadn't lasted longer than a single hit. Then again, this time around they wouldn't be able to just kill her like they had before, and antagonising her wouldn't make it any easier to escape.

"Fine." They muttered, frustrated. They seemed to be giving into Flowey far too much for their liking. "But I'm still hungry, what else is there to eat?"

"Not much." Flowey admitted. "There might have been some sweats earlier, but they were way back, and Toriel will probably offer you food but you know how that goes down."

Frisk did. The last RUN they'd completely fallen for the admittedly transparent motherly act and eaten the pie that Toriel had given them. It had been poisonous. It hadn't killed them, but it had caused a horrible few hours.

"We could go to Grillbys in Snowdin when we get there?" Flowey suggested. "He's really violent when people mess with the food he makes so its usually safe."

Snowdin seemed so far away. "We won't get there till tomorrow." They complained.

Flowey sighed. "It could be much worse." He told them. "We're lucky there's anywhere to eat at all."

"Let's just go." Frisk muttered.

* * *

When they finally made it to Toriel's house, Frisk was aching all over and overwhelmingly glad that they would be able to sleep here, even if they couldn't eat.

"Wait, just a sec." Flowey called, preventing them from knocking. "Look, I'm going to hide for a bit. I'll meet you just outside of the Ruins?"

Frisk frowned. "You did this last time too." They commented. "Why?"

Flowey winced. "Let's just say Toriel and I have had a few … less than friendly run ins shall we?"

Frisk frowned. "Yet you cared enough about her to run off on me last time."

Flowey shuffled his roots awkwardly, then began to climb off Frisk's shoulder. "I know, its stupid. But I care about her for … reasons."

"You're obviously related in some way." Frisk commented, remembering Asriel's appearance and hoping to prompt a better explanation.

"Yeah." Flowey agreed sadly. "She's my mother. I tried to tell her before but … she didn't believe me, and tried to kill me for 'impersonating' myself. I've tried to avoid her ever since."

"Oh." Frisk was at a loss for words. What did you even say to something like that? "That musthave … hurt."

"I'm over it." Flowey told them. "Just … remember, no killing her."

"Unless I die 60 times."

"60?!" Flowey exclaimed. "We agreed on 70!"

"Yeah, 70 plus friendliness pellets. If you're not there I'm not going to get friendliness pellets am I?"

Flowey scowled. "Fine. Not a single RUN less than 70 though. I will be counting the LOADS. Hell, I'll be watching you so don't you dare just LOAD for no reason."

Frisk hadn't actually thought about that possibility, but they weren't about to tell Flowey that. "Just scram already." He told the flower and waited till he'd disappeared underground before turning back to Toriel's house.

After knocking on the door they stepped back to await Toriel's arrival. It did not take her long to come to the door, peering through a slight crack in suspicion at whoever was brave enough to knock on her door.

Upon seeing Frisk standing there the Goat Monster's eyes widened and she opened the door quickly.

"Hi." Frisk said sullenly. "Name's Frisk." Part of them wished they'd said 'Howdy' but that would have probably prompted her to kill them.

Toriel's face cycled through a variety of expressions, including murderous hatred, slight concern and plotting. It eventually settled on a painfully false smile. "Hello Human child. I am Toriel, Keeper of the Ruins."

Frisk was thrown off by the sheer contradiction in the emotions she had just shown, but managed to remember to answer. "Yeah … can I come in?" They asked. "I'm really tired."

"Oh of course Human Child." Toriel opened the door but did not step aside, forcing Frisk to brush against her to get inside. "I could get you something to eat before bed if you would like?"

Frisk pretended not to see the sly smirk that crossed the Goat Monster's face as she spoke. "I'm really not that hungry. Maybe tomorrow?" They suggested.

"No, no, no Child." Toriel told them, wrapping an arm around Frisk's shoulders and steering them towards the kitchen. "It is not good for one as young as you to be skipping meals. No matter how tired you are."

Frisk winced. "Could I eat it in bed then?" They asked. "Please Toriel?"

The Goat Monster pursed her lips, evidently not best pleased about the suggestion, but not willing to force the issue and risk losing Frisk's cooperation. "Very well Human Child. But don't think that will become a habit. This is a one off."

"Thank you very much." Frisk forced out, remembering how Toriel had been very strict about manners the last time.

Toriel hummed and pulled out a slice of pie from the fridge. She wasn't even all that discreet as she added the poison. "Here you go Human Child." She offered the pie to Frisk with a strained smile. "Eat it all up then get some sleep. I shall wake you in the morning."

"Thank you, and Goodnight." Frisk told her, clutching the plate tightly as they all but fled from the kitchen back to the small room they remembered having been delegated the previous RUN.

In the confined space of their room their stomach rumbled loudly, reminding Frisk of how hungry they were. Frisk winced at the feeling, knowing they still had quite the way to walk before they would reach Snowdin and the promise of safe food within it. All the same they were thankful their stomach hadn't made that noise earlier, when they had been claiming they weren't hungry.

Now they just had to figure out what to do with the pie.

The small window refused to open. It looked as though it had been designed to and was simply stuck. Frisk could imagine one of the previous children asking Toriel about it and being told she would get it fixed, but Frisk got the awful feeling it was deliberate. Even if it hadn't been it did mean that Frisk didn't have the option of tossing the pie out of the window and had to find a hiding place within the room.

Eventually Frisk pulled open the closet and scraped the pie off the plate, careful not to get any on the clothing. Stepping back Frisk tilted their head to one side, till they were satisfied what they had done was not obvious with a glance down.

Turning to look at the true contents of the wardrobe Frisk was met with the sight of multiple, identical, red shirts with a solitary black stripe running around their midsection. They ran their ringers across the material it was made of. It felt soft, and would probably be very nice to wear. Frisk considered it, their current top was filthy, and hadn't been made of anything all that nice anyway, so changing into one of these would be very nice. Naturally the thought had nothing to do with how Nabstablook had suggested they wear one.

Shrugging they closed the doors. They were hardly going to put one on now and they should probably ask Toriel before putting one on anyway, so it would have to wait for morning. Right now they just really wanted to sleep.

So, curling up into their bed, they did just that. They awoke slowly. The light had been turned out at some point in the night, and Frisk tried not to shudder at the evidence that Toriel had come into their room whilst they had been asleep. The plate had been replaced with a new slice of pie and Frisk was quick to pile it upon the previous night's pie in the wardrobe.

Having taken care of that, Frisk carefully pushed open the door. Peaking out into the corridor they breathed a sigh of relief when they saw there was no one there. They briefly considered making a run for the exit to the Ruins they knew was hidden beneath the house, but remembering the jumpers they made their way on silent feet down the hall to find Toriel.

The Goat Monster was found in the kitchen, humming to herself as she sharpened a set of knives with the ease that spoke of experience.  
"Toriel?" Frisk called out, realising she hadn't heard them come in.

The sound of metal on metal paused for a moment before continuing as the Monster turned towards them, a strained smile appearing on her face. "There you are Human Child. I did not hear you come in. I take it you enjoyed your pie last night?"

Frisk nodded carefully. "I did ... and thank you for the second slice, I ate it just now."

Toriel's smile faded into a thoughtful frown as she studied them, doubtless wondering why Frisk was able to get out of bed. Frisk knew that the one time they had eaten the pie they had been unable to move for the whole day. "Did you want something Child?" Toriel asked finally.

"Yes, umm ..." Frisk paused. "I looked in the Wardrobe last night and I saw a lot of striped jumpers. I was wondering if I would be allowed to wear one?"

There was a short stare down before Toriel turned away from them. "You may if you wish." Toriel's voice sounded forcefully calm. "Your current clothing is in tatters so it is best if you got changed now."

In all honesty their current state of attire was likely the only reason Toriel was allowing it. She obviously didn't want them to wear the jumpers, but hadn't been able to find a reason when their current clothes were so damaged.

Back in their room Frisk pulled the soft material over their head quickly and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the soft material against their skin. They hadn't worn this in the last timeline, hadn't thought to go through the house when they had been so desperate just to escape from Toriel's clutches. Now however they found themself curious, wanting to find out more about Flowey's mother.

Before they could of the many reasons this was a terrible idea, Frisk pushed open the door to Toriel's room. The first thing they noticed was how clean it was, everything was tucked away in its own place.

Pulling open one of the draws they wrinkled their nose at the sight of lingerie. Why did Toriel even had lingerie? Even if she had someone to wear it for, which she didn't as she lived alone, she was a Goat Monster. Frisk doubted lingerie looked any good on a Goat.

Shaking their head they closed the draw back up carefully and turned to the desk. Within it was a plain leather bound book which Frisk wasted no time in flicking through.

It was Toriel's diary. There were a few entries on the previous fallen children, some which went into enough graphic detail to make Frisk wince. Not many of them had escaped the fiery attacks of the Goat Monster, only two of the six that had fallen before them. The two that had managed to escape had only done so with the help of Flowey, recorded in the diary as 'that lying bastard of a flower'. Toriel certainly hadn't gotten over Flowey's confession of being Asriel.

There were tales of a voice on the other side of the door out of the Ruins. Toriel had recorded some horrible dead baby jokes the voice had told her and there were a few that she had tried to think of herself. It didn't make for pleasant reading.

The most recent entry sounded … almost worried, or at least as worried as anyone down here got for anyone else. The voice hadn't visited the door that night. Toriel had written a particularly scornful sentence about idiots and how the voice had better be dead to excuse missing the meeting, or Toriel would be giving the Monster in question some severe burns before killing him.

Frisk frowned. From the horrible jokes they had assumed the Monster Toriel had been talking to was Sans, but he was most certainly alive at this point. Why would he have missed a meeting that he seemed to go to regularly?

Shaking their head, Frisk attempted to dismiss the thought. If it had been Sans he'd likely had some random reason for skipping, or had been caught sneaking out by Papyrus. But it was more likely that it was an entirely different Monster and that they had in fact been killed, it was hardly a rarity in the Underground.

After placing the book back where they had found it, Frisk left Toriel's room, having decided they had lingered a little too long and wanting to head back to Toriel before she became suspicious.

Frisk ran into Toriel on the landing where they suddenly felt a great deal of relief that they hadn't decided to stick around any longer.

"There you are Child." Toriel greeted, her eyes narrowing. "Where have you been? It does not take that long to put on a jumper."

Frisk smiled weakly, deliberately slumping a little. "Sorry Toriel." They apologised, oh how they hated having to be so polite. "I was feeling a little ill so I sat down for a while. I was just coming to tell you." It was a good excuse, especially for one made up on the spot. Toriel was already expecting them to be ill.

As expected, a pleased smile spread across Toriel's face, even as her tone became one of sympathy. "Oh you poor thing. Come here and let me check your temperature." Toriel strode towards Frisk and laid a paw on her forehead. "Hmm … you aren't overly hot, but perhaps you should go back to bed anyway. Best to be safe." The smile had become near predatory at this point.

Frisk nodded meekly, internally scheming. "Yes Toriel." Having said that they turned to head back to their room.

If they waited until Toriel was gone they could likely make a run for the exit to the Ruins. It wasn't a great plan, but it was a better idea of what to do than they had before.

* * *

It took a long time before the sounds of Toriel moving around faded. The Goat Monster had even checked in on them multiple times, but Frisk had pretended to continue sleeping. Toriel had stood over them silently as Frisk tried not to hyperventilate and on one occasion had run her paw through their hair, muttering to herself in a voice too low to hear.

By the time it came that Frisk could make an attempt to escape, taking a moment to visit the SAVE point outside the house, they were too freaked out to think too hard about anything else, such as the possibility that Toriel had headed in the same direction they were going. Which had lead to the current situation.

Toriel hadn't spotted them yet, which was a good thing at least. But she was knocking on the door out of the Ruins and telling her jokes, headless of the fact that she wasn't getting any replies.

For a moment Frisk considered turning around and carefully making their way back to their room. Yet somehow they hadn't really expected this avoidance tactic to work. It had just been a token gesture so they could tell Flowey they'd tried to avoid a fight.

Before they could change their mind again, Frisk called out. "Hey Toriel!"

The Goat Monster froze, then turned towards them with a carefully blank expression on her face. "Why Child, what are you doing here?"

Frisk shrugged, internally gleeful at their decision to fight Toriel as it meant they didn't need to be so painfully polite any more. "Not much. I was just wanting to leave, that's all." Was it just Frisk or was there the sound of something hitting against the bottom of the door?

The blank expression broke, instead revealing one of pure rage and hatred. Frisk stumbled back at the force of it. Sure Toriel had given them some dirty looks, but nothing like this. They hadn't even started fighting her properly when they killed her the last time round.

"Is. That. So." Toriel spat. "So you just want to run out on me do you?"

Frisk glowered. "Says the Goat who tried to poison me."

"I knew something was wrong there." Toriel told herself aloud. "You took far too long to succumb to that." Her fist came alight in a crimson fireball. "Rest assured Child, I won't fail again. You'll die here."

Frisk didn't doubt that. They were already starting to sweat from their close proximity to what was a much hotter fire than the ones Asriel had thrown at them.

The flame got worse as Toriel flung it at them, Frisk leapt to the side, narrowly dodging it and falling to the floor to avoid the next spout.

More fire came circling around them as Toriel moved in. The flames forced them towards her and they had grown far too used to Monsters that used only one method of attack, caught completely off guard by the claw that ripped them in half.

* * *

They practically ran down to the door, not even considering waiting Toriel out until she left. They did not stop to shout at her this time, instead wildly swinging at her with their stick.

They might as well have not done anything, for the impact did not stagger Toriel in the slightest. Instead she spun around and delivered a fireball straight into their face.

* * *

They did not head immediately for Toriel on the next attempt, instead they turned to look around the bushes.

"Flowey?" They called uncertainly. "Are you there?" Silence. "A little help would be appreciated." Frisk called again, maybe to no one.

A pause.

"Fine." Frisk turned back to the house and trekked back to the end of the Ruins.

* * *

The good news was that they were lasting a lot longer now. Whilst at first they had barely lasted a few fireballs into the fight they were now lasting much longer, with the fights being dragged out to near hours at a time. The bad news was that their stick had yet to manage to do any real damage. It was frustrating, Toriel had been so easy to kill before.

On the other hand they'd died 30 times now, so they were halfway to just being able to kill her … if they could figure out how.

* * *

Frisk stopped just behind Toriel once again. Why were they even trying to hard to do this anyway? If Toriel would just kill them another five or so times they'd be free to do whatever they wanted to her. So why were they trying so hard to avoid death anyway?

* * *

Letting out a sigh, Frisk took a half step back from where Toriel stood. Four deaths left …

What would Flowey do?

Why did they care about that?

Flowey would probably be trying to talk to Toriel instead of killing her. It wouldn't work from him, not with how she believed him to have tried gaining her sympathy by pretending to be her dead son. So far they hadn't done anything bad though. Hell, they'd been downright polite.

Maybe this could work.

"Toriel?" They called. Once more the Goat Monster turned towards them. "What … what's behind that door?"

Toriel gave a false smile. "Oh nothing for you to worry about Child. Let's get you back to bed. You must still be tired."

Frisk shrugged. "Not really."

Toriel hummed. "So why did you come down here Child?" She asked, eyes narrow and suspicious.

Frisk stilled. "Err … I woke up and couldn't find you?" They offered. "I … didn't want to go back through the Ruins? And I hadn't seen down here so I thought I would check?" Wow. Frisk didn't think they could sound less sure if they tried.

There was a moment where Toriel looked down at them, attempting to puzzle out if Frisk was lying or not. A clawed paw moved towards Frisk, the hidden blades sliding out of their sheaths.

"I just panics when I couldn't find you Mom." Frisk blurted out in a panic. Toriel kept calling them child right? And she'd had a son before so would probably be a … maternal person.

Toriel gasped, staring at Frisk with wide eyes. The claws retracted. "Mom?" The Goat Monster asked. "Yes. You should call me that." For a moment a true smile crossed Toriel's lips before she frowned again. "You really shouldn't be here though Child. Come with me."

Frisk shook their head. "Who were you talking to?" They asked, hoping to stall Toriel till they might have the chance to bolt.

"No one." Toriel told them coldly.

"But you were talking." Frisk prompted, not even paying any real attention to what they were telling her.

Toriel's eyes narrowed. "I was practising my jokes." She said. "Would you like to hear one Child?"

Frisk nodded absently.

"How do you get a hundred babies in a bucket?" She asked with dark glee. "With a blender."

Frisk was shocked back to reality and stared in horror.

"Were you not listening Child?" Toriel asked. "That's very rude you know." and a gout of flame consumed them.

* * *

Three

"Were you not listening Child?" Toriel asked. "That's very rude you know."

"No!" Frisk interrupted before she could flame them. "I just … I've never really heard a joke like that before ..." They weren't really sure they wanted to again. They might not care about killing people but they didn't really want to joke about something like that...

"Oh." Toriel looked cheered up. "That is alright Child, I shall tell you another. This is a bit of a follow up to the last one; How do you get them out again? With Doritos!" She let out a giggle.

Frisk felt sick, but they forced a laugh. "Yeah, that's … hilarious."

Toriel nodded happily. "Do you know any jokes child?"

"Oh no." Frisk denied. "I'm really no good at them."

Toriel tutted disaprovingly. "Don't be silly. You must know at least one. Everyone should be able to tell at least one."

Frisk shrugged. "Well I don't." They told her apologetically.

Toriel frowned. "Then I shall teach you one. Oh I know the perfect dead baby joke for you!"

"I really don't want to know!" Frisk yelled, then froze.

Toriel was glaring daggers at them. "You shouldn't be so rude to your mother." She growled, a paw reaching out to cut them down the middle. "Oh dear." She giggled. "I forget that Humans can't take the same … punishment a Monster can."

* * *

Two

"Do you know any jokes child?"

"You've GOAT to be KIDing me. I love jokes!" Frisk blurted out. They'd spent quite a while before coming in here thinking that up. Hopefully she'd accept it.

Toriel laughed. "Oh that was a good one." She told them. "I don't tell puns myself. But my friend past the door likes to."

Frisk jumped at the chance. "Why don't you open the door so I can meet him then?"

Toriel stared at them in suspicion "You're just trying to get me to let you out aren't you. Well I won't be having that." Punctuation her words with fireballs.

* * *

One

"I don't tell puns myself. But my friend past the door likes to."

"You must really like him." Frisk commented.

Toriel paused, then nodded. "Yes, I am quite fond of him indeed."

"You ... sound worried?" Frisk asked carefully, watching out for any attacks.

"Of course n-" Toriel stopped. "I, yes I suppose I am. I do not have many friends … and it is very dangerous out there. He could very easily have died." She looked down at them. "You know you remind me of my child."

Frisk blinked. "I … do?"

Toriel sighed, nodding. "Yes you really do. You worry for me, as they used to." Frisk didn't think they'd really been worrying. They would call it snooping themself. "You look like them as well. Especially in that jumper."

Frisk looked down at the stripped top, pulling it out slightly to get a better look.

"I know its silly. There's no reason for me to believe it … but I must ask." Toriel hesitated. "Are you Chara?"

Frisk blinked. That was the name Asgore had called them. Did they really look so much like this child? They frowned at a new thought, had Toriel really once cared for a human child? Looking up at Toriel's hopeful eyes Frisk put aside their questions and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

"Yeah mom." They paused, what else should they say? "Sorry for not saying earlier."

A blaze of fire in their face. "You aren't my Chara!" Toriel spat. "My Chara never apologised, even when they were wrong!"

* * *

Frisk stared down at their hands. That made sixty deaths. They'd held up their side of the bargain. They didn't have to do it any more. They could go down there and kill Toriel now.

Who were they kidding? They hadn't managed to put a dent on her earlier, there was no way they'd manage to kill her. "Are you Chara?"

They'd been asked this question so many times at this point. But no matter how much they'd learnt about this previous child they'd never managed to impersonate them correctly. Perhaps it was time to try a different track.

"No." They told Toriel honestly. "I'm … sorry."

Toriel sighed. "No, I suppose you wouldn't be. That sort of thing isn't possible, and you are far too polite to be my Chara."

Frisk bit their lip. The Monster looked so defeated by their admission, but at least they were still alive.

There was no reason for them to comfort her. Toriel had killed them so many times. Even if she hadn't they'd disliked her before that. So why? Why did they want to?

Giving in with closed eyes, Frisk closed the difference between them and hugged the Monster as best they could, with her being so much taller than them.  
After a moment where Frisk was convinced they were about to meet a violent end via claw or flame, Toriel bent down and wrapped her own arms around them.

"Thank you." The Monster whispered to them.

They stayed like that for a long time. Eventually though Toriel pulled away with a sigh. "You … you are a very nice Child." She told them. "But … you are not my Child. If you wish to go I shall not stop you."

Frisk froze. "When did I say I wanted to leave?" They asked nervously.

Toriel snorted. "I may not have wanted to see it, but I do recognise the face of someone who wants to leave Child." She sighed. "But I must ask this one, selfish favour of you if you do go Child. Please find out what has happened to my friend. His name is Sans. Even ... even if he is dead I should like to know. Knowing is better than this … uncertainty."

Frisk nodded slowly. The skeleton hadn't even properly confronted them about killing his brother till they had reached Asgore before. Without that hanging over them it would likely be easy enough to talk to him. Maybe even let him know Toriel was worried for him.

Toriel beamed at them. "Thank you child."

"Goodbye." Frisk told her.

"Goodbye." Toriel replied.

Having said their goodbyes, Frisk pushed through the exit to the Ruins, confused at the feeling in their chest. They recognised the hurt, the wish to stay behind with Toriel. But the Goat Monster had been nothing but cruel to them. That short conversation they had just held with her did not redeem her. Even discounting what had been RESET, Toriel had still tried to poison them. The feelings made no sense.

A sniffle at ground level drew their attention.

"She's dead isn't she?" Asked Flowey sadly. "Seventy three RESETS." He sighed. "I'll keep my word. You kept yours, I won't blame you for what you did."

Frisk blinked. They hadn't even considered this. Coughing in embarrassment they shrugged. "Actually, Toriel's still alive." They admitted.

Flowey stared up at them in disbelief, then tears beaded in his eyes. "Really?" He asked. "Oh thank you."

Frisk shuffled. "I didn't do it for you." They complained. "I couldn't make a scratch with the stick anyway so its not like I had another choice."

"Still." Flowey told them, the wide smile on his face clashing with the tears. "Thank you so much."

Frisk looked away from him. "Whatever. Lets just go already. I still haven't eaten and I need to track down Sans anyway."

Flowey shook the tears from his eyes and frowned as he climbed Frisk's body to their shoulder. "Why?" He asked.

Frisk shrugged. "I told Toriel I'd check up on him for her." They admitted uncomfortably.

Flowey's eyes widened. "And you're actually going to carry through on that?" He asked in disbelief.

"Shut up." Frisk groaned.

"Oh stars above, you actually have a heart!"

"I said, shut up!"


End file.
